O is for Obedience
Parent’s Corner- “For the Kids!” Series
Parent’s Corner began as a communication tool to inform parents what had been taught in Children’s Sunday school classes on a given Sunday morning, providing passages to read together and discussion questions to facilitate conversation between parents and their children during the week. We have just finished Year 3 of our curriculum series. The decision has been made to press “pause” in our Children’s ministry classes before beginning again with Year 1. While we are paused, I will be changing the focus of Parent’s Corner from curriculum notes, to teachable moments.
“For the Kids!”
This collection of topical journal entries will focus on teachable moments that parents can have with their kids. They will be grounded in Scripture, seasoned by stories and experiences, and distributed with love and prayers for many sweet times together as a family. In an effort to be organized and purposeful, I’ll be choosing topics by going through the alphabet. As I write this, please know that I don’t claim to have all of the answers. Not at all! What I do have is a genuine desire to have a teachable spirit, and a heart for the precious kiddos in our body.
O is for Obedience
“Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.”
Leviticus 25:18
“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
1 John 5:3
Have you ever played a board game and thrown all of the rules out of the window? How did it go? Did everyone have fun? Were there any disagreements? I’m guessing it wasn’t as fun as it could have been because the focus was on the individual and what he/she wanted and not on the group having fun as a whole. The same is true in our families. If we all abide by the rules, we can avoid much conflict, and concentrate on living together in community.
Rules are everywhere. They guide and direct us in how we live in our communities, drive on our roads, and generally function together as a society. God gave us rules too. Sometimes in the Bible these rules are called decrees or commands. These are words from God to instruct us on the right way to live. What is his motivation is giving us these rules? For our good and His glory!
As a family, we have rules in our homes. Some of the rules in my home give guidelines for how to share a room, where dirty laundry is placed, what should be done with dirty dishes, how we speak to each other, and where phones are kept overnight. Some of us find some rules harder to follow than others.
As a family, talk about what rules you have trouble obeying. Why do you think that is? Why do you think those rules are in place? For additional words on why we should obey the laws that God, the government, and our families have put in place, read Ephesians 6:1-4. This is a command with a promise, and a great promise it is!